Spanish Lottery's 'Justino' Campaign Wins Cyber Grand Prix at Cannes

Animated Tale of a Night Watchman Played Out on Multiple Platforms

By Ann-Christine Diaz and Alexandra Jardine.Published on Nov 17, 2015

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The Spanish Lottery's "Justino" holiday campaign has won a Cyber Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The campaign was one of two Cyber Grand Prix awarded, the other being ING"s "The Next Rembrandt."

"Justino," created out of Leo Burrnett Madrid, promotes Anuncio Loteria de Navidad, Spain's famous annual Christmas lottery whose big payout is known as "El Gordo." The centerpiece of the campaign is the Pixar-like tale of an elderly night watchman at a mannequin factory.

Jury President Chloe Gottlieb, co-executive creative director of R/GA U.S., said, "The reason we loved this was it was born out of digital. It was not a TV spot put on YouTube. It was created for the digital space and every piece of the story was perfectly crafted for its channel. 'Justino' was a beautiful film at the level of Pixar, and then when you went to the Instagram feed or Facebook channel, it was all different and interesting and perfect for the appropriate platform. We love this idea that storytelling is not just happening in the same way, that people have such literacy now, such an ability to play with the materials and tools, that the story becomes dimensionalized and even more beautiful when we experience it. It's work that has no dead end."

This moving holiday film for Spain's National Lottery has gone seriously viral, becoming the #1 trending topic in Spain since Monday and hitting over a million views within a day. Animated in Pixar-like style, it's the story of Justino, an elderly night watchman at a mannequin factory who spends his lonely graveyard shift surrounded by the dolls and never gets to meet his daytime colleagues. In order to connect with them, he starts to have some fun with the mannequins, moving them around into different funny poses and places. The question is, do they know he exists -- and will they include him in their lottery syndicate?

The ad was created by Leo Burnett, Madrid, and directed by Against All Odds at Passion Pictures. It's one of a series of feelgood spots promoting Spain's Christmas lottery draw "El Gordo." Last year's ad featured a man in a coffee bar who forgot to buy a ticket.

Meanwhile, if you love Justino, you can follow him on Instagram, where you can see what he gets up to on his night shift.